A Pressing Engagement
A Pressing Engagement is the fourth episode of Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. It originally aired as the fifth episode on September 9th, 1993, due to the fact that the sixth episode, Food Fight, had aired second. Synopsis Jason tries to break a fitness record, but Goldar has a plan to separate Jason from the others. Rita sends down the powerful King Sphinx to squash Jason. Plot At the Juice Bar, Jason is trying to break Bulk's bench-pressing record, but is unable to do so, because while he is doing this, Kimberly blows a huge bubble the size of her head when Zack comes by on a skate board and pops her bubble, making his spotter Ernie lose track of count. Jason doubts his ability to succeed, and fears he will become known as a quitter. The other ranger teens try to comfort him but have mixed success. At the Moon Palace, Rita believes that Jason is not tough without his friends to help him. She decides to isolate Jason from the others and destroy him, and has Finster create the King Sphinx to separate the other rangers from him by using his powerful wings to blow them away. Rita's plan succeeds as King Sphinx and a group of Putties attack the Earth. Jason, Kimberly, and Zack rush to face him, but King Sphinx blows the Black and Pink Rangers back to the Juice Bar. He then battles Jason, and the two are quite evenly matched until King Sphinx teleports them to a desert like area. Goldar joins the fray, helping King Sphinx fight Jason. At the Command Center, Zordon summons the rest of the Rangers and alerts them to Jason's struggle. Somehow, the desert can't be reached, and the only way to help Jason is to send him their Power Crystals, which would allow the Rangers to teleport to the area. In the desert, Rita has made King Sphinx and Goldar grow. Zordon sends the Power Crystals, which Jason uses to summon the other Rangers. They summon their Dinozords, and fight both Goldar and King Sphinx in the Megazord. Eventually they gain the upper-hand when they summon the Power Sword, destroying King Sphinx. Goldar retreats, and on the Moon, Rita is furious. Back at Ernie's juice bar, Jason is able to break Bulk's bench-pressing record. Bulk himself arrives with Skull, claiming he will reclaim his record. Ernie brings out a cake for all to enjoy, which Bulk promptly ends up having his face smashed into when he trips on a weight, ending the episode on a high note. Cast * Austin St. John as Jason Lee Scott (Mighty Morphin Red Ranger) * Thuy Trang as Trini Kwan (Mighty Morphin Yellow Ranger) * Walter Jones as Zack Taylor (Mighty Morphin Black Ranger) * Amy Jo Johnson as Kimberly Ann Hart (Mighty Morphin Pink Ranger) * David Yost as Billy Cranston (Mighty Morphin Blue Ranger) * David Fielding as Zordon * Romy J. Sharf as Alpha 5 * Richard Steven Horvitz as Alpha 5 (voice) * Paul Schrier as Farkas "Bulk" Bulkmeier * Jason Narvy as Eugene "Skull" Skullovitch * Richard Genelle as Ernie * Machiko Soga as Rita Repulsa * Barbara Goodson as Rita Repulsa (voice) * Kerrigan Mahan as Goldar (voice) * Robert Axelrod as Finster (voice) * Michael Sorich as Squatt (voice) * Dave Mallow as Baboo (voice) * Richard Cansino as the voice of King Sphinx Notes * This episode contains the first reference to the Morphing Grid. * This is the first episode where the Rangers morph twice within one episode. It occured the 2nd time when they went to help Jason. * This is the first episode to have Bulk in it for more than one scene. * This is not the first time the Rangers use the Power Crystals, as they had been used as joysticks for the Zords since Day of the Dumpster. * This is the first time the Rangers use the Power Sword successfully, as Goldar had fled when it was summoned in Day of the Dumpster, and the first time the Zords fight more than one monster. * The Megazord battle with King Sphinx and Goldar had been used in "Day of the Dumpster", with all shots containing King Sphinx edited out. * The Monster of the Day: King Sphinx, who had appeared in the pilot as Fly Guy. * Dark rocky, bodied Putty Patrollers make their first appearance in this episode which were Captain Golems in Zyuranger although their status in Power Rangers was never disclosed. * First appearance of Billy's garage and lab. * The original Zyuranger episode contained a plotline where King Sphinx was actually trapping children and the other 4 Zyurangers in trees. The footage was edited to remove footage of the monster's human form and the appearance of the Tyrannosaurus Dinozord teleporting the Red Ranger to the desert. Footage of the other 4 Zyurangers morphing was also converted into a teleportation scene. This episode was where the Zyurangers get the Power Crystals required to form the Megazord. * This episode would be mentioned again by Jason in "Island of Illusion". * This is the first episode in which one or more Rangers were forced to demorph during a type of battle. This occurred when the Rangers were blown back to the Youth Center. Errors * The giant bubble Kimberly is blowing from her bubble gum is clearly a balloon. * For some reason Zordon didn't contact Billy or Trini to participate in the initial battle. * King Sphinx appears out of nowhere in the original battle and we cut to him in a very jarring way. All prior shots of him were cut due to them being of his Japanese counterpart. * Kimberly was wearing shoes when she morphed, but was barefoot upon being sent back to the Youth Center by King Sphinx. * Nobody in the Youth Center appeared to have noticed or got suspicious of Kimberly and shortly later Zack just appearing out of nowhere after King Sphinx sent them there. * Despite facing two giant opponents, Jason doesn't attempt to summon his Dinozord . In Zyuranger, Guardian Beast Tyrannosaurus was with the other GB's creating the Ranger Crystals (adapted here as the Power Crystals). * Jason knows what the Power Crystals are despite not having been told by Zordon or Alpha. Instinct? * After taking damage, an overhead shot of the Rangers in the Megazord cockpit shows the Dragonzord control panel in front of Jason. This is due to the fact the shot was taken from an episode featuring the Zyurangers in the cockpit of the Gouryuujin, which became the Dragonzord Battle Mode in MMPR. * After King Sphinx is destoryed, when Goldar teleports away, a tree also disappears along with him. Good old stop motion editing. * During the stage fight scene, King Sphinx's Quiz chair from the corresponding Zyuranger episode can be seen briefly. * In the closeup of Zack's Power Crystal, Walter Jones' lack of a middle left finger is noticeable. They reportadly had to redo takes multiple times to remove this so it's a mistake. See Also (fight footage) (fight footage) Category:Episode Category:Mighty Morphin 1